Gardening Articles: Care :: Tools & Equipment

New Environmentally Friendly Wood Treatment

by Charlie Nardozzi

Wood pressure-treated with CCA has been pulled from the market for its leaching of toxic chemicals into the environment. Substitutes such as recycled plastic wood and wood pressure-treated with chemicals such as ACQ are available, but they have not met with wide acceptance.

Now theres a new type of pressure-treated wood that's being promoted as rot resistant, non-toxic, non-corrosive, and fire resistant; it doesnt leach residue; and it outperforms ACQ and borate-based pressure-treated woods. TimberSil wood is protected by an injection of an aqueous solution of sodium silicate. Sodium silicate is used in a variety of industries, such as the making of concrete, in which it's used as a hardening agent. It forms an amorphous, glass-like layer in the wood that protects it, yet makes the wood easy to work with. TimberSil claims its wood not only replaces the hazardous copper-, chromium-, and arsenic-preserved woods of the past, it also outperforms them in the areas of leaching and corrosion.

TimberSil will be available in lumberyards starting this spring. For more information, go to: TimberSil.